


The Last Wish

by Frangipanidownunder



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Cancer Arc, F/M, First Kiss, MSR
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-28
Updated: 2020-02-28
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:08:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22936093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Frangipanidownunder/pseuds/Frangipanidownunder
Summary: A first kiss during the cancer arc.
Relationships: Fox Mulder/Dana Scully
Comments: 2
Kudos: 56





	The Last Wish

She sits up suddenly, a scream dying in her throat. He fumbles upright, joints creaking in the dark of her room.

“Scully,” he whispers as gently as he can, careful to let her know of his presence.

“Mulder?” her voice is tight.

“I’m here.”

“Why? What’s wrong?” He nearly barks out a laugh at the irony of her question but instead, he drags the chair closer to her bed and holds her hand, just as he had earlier in the night.

“Nothing’s wrong.” Except everything.

“I had a nightmare.”

“I figured as much,” he says. Neither of them are looking at the other, but he knows her eyes are wide, wet, her chest is hitched up, her mouth slightly open, the pale skin on her cheeks blotched pink. “Do you want to talk about it?”

She shifts and the bed linen rustles. “How much do you charge an hour?”

The subtle art of deflection is something he knows all too well so he doesn’t push. They sit in the dark quiet.

It’s almost dawn when she speaks again. “I’m scared.”

His hand clamps around hers reflexively. “I know.”

“Not…not of…dying,” she says, turning to face him with an expression of pure, gutting honesty. “But of leaving things undone.”

Guilt twinges in his throat and he inhales sharply. “Your life has been full, Scully. You’ve achieved so much. And you’re…not…”

“Mulder,” she says, leaning towards him, finger across his lips. “It’s okay.”

He shakes his head, her finger falls away. “What would you like to do? What’s top of the Dana Scully bucket list? Skydiving? Balloon flight over the pyramids? Learn to play the guitar so you can riff Smoke on the Water for me?”

A single tear spills and she sniffs and laughs at the same time. “It’s nothing. No, that’s not right. It’s everything. But it’s so personal. It’s…silly.”

He slides closer. “There’s nothing you can tell me that I would consider silly, Scully. Nothing.” He kisses each knuckle tenderly. “Is this dream something achievable right now? Like, could I make this happen for you today.”

Her laugh is a tinkling bell that breaks the painful weight of the air between them. “It is,” she says, rubbing at her eyes. “But you don’t have to…I can’t…ask you…I feel so stupid, Mulder.”

“Let me make it happen.”

She dries her eyes and straightens up. There’s a change in her. Like she’s weighing up the odds. She nods seriously. “Okay. Close your eyes.”

He complies. There’s a beat of silence, then her lips push against his, seeking more, seeking more than he can possibly give her, yet his heart is hammering with such force he feels invincible. The world stops spinning. Time is suspended. She’s soft, yet powerful. He’s yielding to her, yet propping her up. When she pulls away, he swears he hears her whisper a ‘thank-you’ and he quirks his head.

“You haven’t told me your wish, Scully.”

She smiles into her fist, shakes her head, more tears flowing.

And then he understands.


End file.
